Special Interest Housing deadline quickly approaching
Cassie Gregory
Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: Residence Life
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The special interest housing meeting was February 12, with applications due February 19 and interviews February 19 to February 23.
Special interest houses are for members of recognized clubs, groups or organizations.
According to the Director of Residence Life, Greg Nayor, the purpose of special interest housing is to benefit the group or organization through living together.
"Basically it's an environment for members of the team or organization to live in," Nayor said, "but it also provides one whole space for the group to have meetings, to have events, to have meals, things like that."
Out of 71 college owned houses, Residence Life offers 17 special interest houses. Seven of these houses are Greek houses, located on Vernon Street, and the other 10 consist of various groups.
This past year, seven legitimate groups were given a special interest house along with the Greek houses. These include lacrosse, softball, basketball, the Residence Hall Association, Emergency Medical Services, theater and the Ski and Snowboarding Club houses.
According to Nayor, special interest houses also "promote a sense of unity within the organization."
Sophomore Lauren Huggins who lives in the Sigma Sigma Sigma house enjoys this aspect of living in a special interest house.
"When organization members live together like we do," Huggins said. "We get closer and more involved than if we lived in separate rooms and buildings."
Huggins also enjoys using the house as a common meeting place.
"We have somewhere to go and just hang out with our sisters and we don't have to search high and low for a place where everybody can get to," Huggins said.
Sophomore Anastasha Branam also believes that groups can benefit from living together. Branam almost got the chance to live in a special interest house with members of New Horizons, but the group didn't have enough people to fill the house.
Branam believes the house would have given them a central place to meet as well as the opportunity to grow as an organization by living together.